B in a circle: Brockway Glass Company

This mark was adopted by Brockway Glass in 1925 and used on tremendous numbers of bottles, up until circa 1988.

The “B in a circle” mark is usually seen on the base, and seems to have been placed in the center of the base on most earlier bottles (I don’t have a timeline to indicate HOW early), but by the late 1970s, if not earlier, the “B” was typically placed near the top, as in the 12:00 position on a clock. (See pics below of late 1970s-early 1980s bottles). However, keep in mind that this typical placement of the mark is not 100% consistent, and some bottles made by Brockway might not conform to this general rule.

Brockway Machine Bottle Company (starting in 1907) merged with its own subsidiary Broadway Sales Company (created 1927) to form Brockway Glass Company in 1933. In 1933, Brockway bought the Monaca Glass Company, Monaca, Pennsylvania, but closed that plant about a year later.

Other glass plant acquisitions included the former De Camp Consolidated Glass Casket Company (Muskogee, OK) in 1946; Sterling Glass Company (Lapel, Indiana) in 1950; the Demuth Glass Company of Parkersburg, WV in 1955, and the Tygart Valley Glass Company, Washington, PA, in 1959. In 1964, 8 of 10 Hazel-Atlas Glass Company glass manufacturing plants were acquired by Brockway, bringing the total number of plants at that time to sixteen (Julian Toulouse, Bottle Makers and their Marks, 1971, pages 60-61).

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13 Responses to B in a circle: Brockway Glass Company

I have a brown bottle with Broadway wrote out underneath on the bottom the top it has a crazy looking 3 with viii beside it…at the bottom of the bottle, but not underneath, it looks like a plus sign in a circle with the word “sari-glos” any idea what kind of bottle…on the side the measurement goes to 220cc

Hi Julia, the marking is meant to be “SANI-GLAS”, a trademark used by Brockway Glass Company for their line of “generic” medicine bottles. The bottles could have been used for a variety of products, but primarily medicinal products. the “Crazy looking 3” means “ounces” and the viii means “8”, thus your bottle holds approximately 8 ounces of liquid. I don’t know the timeline for the Sani-Glas bottles. Perhaps a search of patent or trademark sites could bring up the date ranges for it’s use.
David

hi david ! so i found this bottle with a b in a circle, it has a W and some embossed leaves on the bottom it had the numbers 2566-A with a O on the right and a 1 under the B in a circle, i have been searching online but nothing specific appears. Thanks for the help!

Helen, I’m sorry but I don’t know. The “2566-A” is a code number assigned to that bottle style/design. Perhaps using that number in online keyword searches you could find out more info. However keep in mind that Brockway (as with many other large glass container manufacturers) made many, many styles and sizes of bottles over a long period of time, and often it is very difficult to find detailed information on a particular container.
~David

I have a bottle I found and no luck finding any info about it.
It has B in a circle in the center and a 3 to the left. Above the B it says 1847. It’s a small clear glass. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks, Scott

Hi Scott, since Brockway made thousands of different bottles and jars over many years, it would be no surprise that info on any particular bottle can be very hard to find. The only bit of info I can pass along is that the “1847” would be a mold design number (inventory number) assigned by Brockway to that particular bottle. You might try searching ebay with such keywords or phrases as bottle, “B in a circle” and “1847” in case others have posted similar bottles up for auction.
Best regards,
David

I have (4) 4″ glasses, there are 3 “lines” of circles, with a pedestal bottom. Reminds me of Old jelly jars or maybe even soft cheese product jars.

The bottoms all have B in a circle, but with just one other number, each on one side of the glass bottom. The numbers are on the left and the B on the right. One glass only has the B.
I’d appreciate any help you could offer.
Thanks,
Bobbi

Bobbi, I don’t know anything about the jars, but I will assume they are product jars for soft cheese, peanut butter, jam or jelly. Brockway made a huge variety of containers with the “circled B”. The numbers to the left are presumably mold numbers and give no information on date.
~David

I found a small bottle with the circle B in the middle that washed up in St. Augustine, FL. The number over the B is 818. The number to the left is 0, and the number on the bottom is a 10. There is nothing to the right. The neck of the top of the bottle is textured or with tiny little bumps. Is this from 1910 maybe?

Martha,
I am quite sure it is not as old as 1910. However I have no info on exact age. The “818” is a mold number assigned to that particular bottle style or design. The “10” could be a plant code number or mold cavity number. It is certainly not a date code for 1910.
Best regards,
David

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